Hogwarts: A History--Written by Bathilda Bagshot
by Mrs.McGinty08
Summary: After the final battle, Hermione petitioned for this book to be more widely accessible to the general wizarding public. And you're in luck! She won! Immerse yourself in Hogwarts: A History. *Feel free to request chapters you would like to see in the book!
1. Introduction

Hey guys! This is just a test chapter. If you want me to continue writing this story, let me know!

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Introduction

_ Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus __(Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon)_

I felt compelled to write this book as a result of the many fond memories I have of being a young witch at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I explored the grounds eagerly, always wishing to learn more about the school. Some of the following information I learned the hard way (Apparition and Disapparation), others I learned through my fellow students and the occasional teacher that would accidentally say too much (Chamber of Secrets). But before we can continue into the hidden secrets of the school, we must first have a basic understanding of the school itself.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was established in the ninth or tenth century in Scotland (this is still up for debate). It is a very selective school as it only admits children aged eleven through eighteen who possess magical abilities. That being said, muggle-borns occasionally possess these abilities and have been known to be admitted to Hogwarts also.

Hogwarts contains four houses, all of which are named after their founders. The houses are: Gryffindor (Godric Gryffindor), Hufflepuff (Helga Hufflepuff), Ravenclaw (Rowena Ravenclaw), and Slytherin (Salazar Slytherin).

Now that you have a basic understanding of the school, you are prepared for the journey ahead. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed discovering the information to write it.

Yours in exploration,

-Bathilda Bagshot


	2. Pranks

In tribute to Fred & George Weasley, Fabian & Gideon Prewett, and the Mauraders!

As requested by Sirius J Potter

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Pranks

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has had its share of self-proclaimed pranksters over the years, all of which are very skilled in theircraft. Skills aside, if these young pranksters don't follow the rules Hogwarts places on them, they are in for a world of upset.

The rules on pranking were extremely strict under the rule of the first Headmaster of Hogwarts, so much so that any student who was caught doing something whimsical was immediately under suspicion, causing a lot of wrongly convicted students. This intense method of prank control was seen as a challenge by some of the pranksters rather than a warning, causing them to prank more and on a grander scale. This led to a lot of unforeseen fires and explosions in the school.

The methods and rules dealing with pranking were kept mostly the same throughout Hogwarts' history. It wasn't until Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster of Hogwarts that the rules were revised and re defined. Unlike a lot of the Headmasters before him, Dumbledore took into consideration the ages of his students when this revision was made.

He started his revision by revising the definition of prankster. The previous definition was "Any student who does not follow the rules and does not respond to authority". Dumbledore disagreed with this definition and felt that a new one was necessary. As a result, the definition of prankster was changed to "Any student who disturbs the peace intentionally through an act of a comic nature", making sure to eliminate the vagueness created by the original definition.

His next act was to make the rules a little less strict and give the students a bit of room to goof around and breathe— that is as long as it is not done in class, does not disturb the peace, and does not affect the mental or physical well-being of another student.

In these new rules, Albus Dumbledore also made it clear that items such as Dungbombs, Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks, Ever-Bashing Boomerangs, and Trick wands are not welcome in Hogwarts as they disturb the peace and have the potential to put the student's safety at risk, as well as the safety of everyone around them. Any student caught with such items is to be dealt with at the discretion of their Head of House or in extreme cases, to be dealt with by Dumbledore himself.


	3. Hogwarts & Muggles

Hogwarts is hidden to Muggles

One of the first bits of information I learned as a student at Hogwarts is that the beloved school is hidden from those that are not magically inclined. If a Muggle was to look at Hogwarts, they would see an old ruin with a sign that reads: "DANGER, DO NOT ENTER, UNSAFE". While this seems a little dramatic to some wizards, others argue that this enchantment is necessary for the protection of the school and its students from unwanted Muggle attention and the Muggle world as a whole.

As far as my then Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black was concerned, Muggles should not have the privilege of studying at Hogwarts, no matter their magical abilities. This opinion was highly favoured among pureblood wizarding families but was frowned upon by most everyone else, contributing to his unpopularity. He has been credited with appealing to the Ministry of Magic on more than one occasion, attempting to gain permission to ban Muggle borns from being educated at Hogwarts. His appeals, however, were unsuccessful as the Ministry ruled that all persons that possesses magical abilities are to be treated equally.

For the longest time I wondered how Muggle children studied at Hogwarts if they could only see the run-down ruin with the sign of impending doom upon their arrival. This question was answered for me when I overheard a Prefect explaining the enchantment to another student, saying that it was placed with the ability to sense a magical being. As a result, a muggle born witch or wizard would not activate the enchantment because it can sense their magic.

That being said, there were instances where the enchantment, for whatever reason, excluded Muggle born witches and wizards from seeing and entering Hogwarts. When it was discovered that the excluded were Muggle born, suspicions were raised among witches and wizards alike. They suspected that my Headmaster had taken matters into his own hands and had gone behind the Ministry's back and tampered with the enchantment to prevent Muggles from attending Hogwarts.


End file.
